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Show The Rhythm Section Berkeley Plans ' Jazz Fes&ivcsl by Ralph J. Gleason A special orchestra under the direction of Gil Evan being formed in Los Angeles this month to play at the It versity of California at Berkeley Jazz Festival April 19 The Evans orchestra will perform new music written Evans for Miles Davis and will be the first appearance of Ev and Davis in concert outside New Work since their hist Columbia albums. 0ric The new orchestra will supplement the Davis Quintet some of the new compositions are scored for such unique? jazz, anyway) musical combinations as mandolin and marimb The Los Angeles contingent will- include two flute pla 3 j (one to double on piccolo), and oboe player who will do? on English horn, two bassoons, two French horns, a tuba 6 harp and two guitars, in addition to the marimba and mandolin Recently I heard a tape of one of the new composition " featuring this instrumentation and it sounded despite T difficulties of listening over 3,000 miles of telephone lines li? a highly contemporary composition that contained all the t mendous emotion and supercharged intensity of the "Skptni, of Spain" music. Pieties The Davis-Evans concert will include, in addition to the new works, several excerpts from the previous collaboration of the two musicians, and will be recorded by Columbia. Last year's U.C Jazz Festival was one of the most sue cessful festivals m the country and this year's is even more ambitious. In addition to the Davis-Evans appearance, the U C Festi val is bringing out from New York the Cecil Taylor' Quintet Taylor is the controversial pianist who is one of the prime movers in the current avant garde of jazz. This will be his first appearance on the West Coast. Singer Carmen McRae will also appear on the opening night of the two day festival. ' On Saturday afternoon, April 20, a piano workshop is being offered under the direction of pianist Billy Taylor who is a jazz disc jockey in addition to leading his own trio in clubs and on records. The piano workshop will present Herbie Haw-cock, Haw-cock, Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, Denny Zeitlin and others in an exposition and discussion of styles accompanied by Bass- ist Red Mitchell and drummer Ed Thigpen. j The Saturday night concert will feature the Thad Jones-Mel Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra, Thelonious Monk's Quartet, the Wes Montgomery Quartet and singer Joe Williams. The week before the festival has been declared "Jazz Week" by Mayor Wallace Johnson of Berkeley and, beginning March 28, there will be a special series of jazz films shown in Pauley Ballroom, the most extensive program of jazz films ever assembled. It will include films featuring Bessie Smith, Art Blakey, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington and others. If all goes well, it should be a historic jazz weekend. Liner Notes : , Dave Brubeck's oratoria has been recorded with the Cleveland Symphony for Decca . . . Ellis' Island, the Los Angeles jazz club where trumpeter Don Ellis operated for over a year, has closed ... drummer Paul Motian, who was once with the Bill Evans trio, is now accompanying folk singer Arlo Guthrie . . . Cannonball Adderley is shifting his headquarters to Los Angeles after a decade of living in New York . . . Tenor Johnny Griffin did a month's engagement, in London recently and plans to stay in Europe . . . Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp ana Pharaoh Sanders, the three avant-garde saxophone players on ABC-Impulse records, will have their next albums released in i the pop market as well as the jazz market by ABC . . I Copyright 1968 Chronicle Features Syndicate I |